Delhi court extends custody of two accused of spying for Pak; Thane engineer sent to judicial custody

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday extended by seven days the police custody of two persons arrested for allegedly spying for Pakistan.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Shriya Agrawal extended the custody of Qasim and Haseen after they were produced before court on expiry of their custody granted earlier.

The judge directed the police to produce the accused before the court on June 12.

She passed the order after police said that further custody was required to unearth an "espionage network" and probe the technical evidence and trail of transactions in their bank accounts.

The Delhi Police counsel said the accused obtained phone numbers from India and sent it to Pakistan where it was being used for espionage.

He said the accused clicked photos of sensitive locations, including Army camps, and received money in their bank accounts from Pakistan.

Moreover, a court in Thane remanded mechanical engineer Ravindra Verma, arrested for allegedly spying and sharing sensitive information about warships and submarines to Pakistan, to 14-day judicial custody.

The 27-year-old junior engineer who worked with a defence technology firm was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) last week. He is a resident of Kalwa in neighbouring Thane.

The accused was produced before a Thane court on Thursday at the end of his previous remand.

The police did not press for further remand and the court sent the accused to a 14-day judicial custody, Verma's lawyer, Rajhans Girase, said.

The ATS had earlier alleged that Verma shared sensitive information about warships and submarines to the Pakistani intelligence operative through sketches, diagrams and audio notes, and received money from various bank accounts in India and abroad in return.